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Devotional podcast for ASP summer staff.
New episodes Tuesday and Thursday.
Hey friends, and welcome to the ASP Summer
Staff Podcast with your amazing and multi-talented
spiritual programs friends, Jane and Shawn.
Well, it's mostly Shawn.
Jane is going to be with us in
spirit guys, so be praying for Jane.
We do miss her.
Now, we're excited to be bringing you a
number of wonderful voices to you all summer
long.
We're going to remind you about why you
are serving in a deeply relational and spiritual
way.
And across nearly every reflection, the strongest message
has been this.
The most meaningful moments often happen not in
accomplishing the plethora of tasks that you guys
have been doing all summer long, but in
being fully present with people and with God.
Now, today's podcast features longtime ASP volunteer legend,
Butch Barton.
Butch has served ASP in multiple summers, as
well as coming back throughout the year, helping
to conduct IHVs, home repair, and ASP special
events.
Now, Butch has built incredible relationships with Summer
Staff, and his daughter, Alexis, has even served
on Summer Staff a few years ago.
Butch, on this episode, is going to focus
on self-care through quiet reflection, journaling, and
intentional learning.
He's going to share practical methods for structured
journaling to overcome mental clutter, and encourage his
consistent reflection on emotions, growth, and gratitude.
He also highlights the value of reading, audiobooks,
and podcasts as tools for intellectual and spiritual
development.
The themes are going to include some mindfulness
and personal growth and curiosity, and creating some
habits that deepen awareness and learning.
Super excited to have the GOAT, Butch Barton,
on with us today, and really hope that
you guys enjoy this.
Know that we love you, we're cheering for
you.
Guys, we're closing in on the end of
the summer.
It's going to be awesome.
Glad you're with us.
Have a great day.
Hello, friend and fellow ASP-er.
I'm Butch, coming to you from Southern Maryland.
I'd like to talk a little bit in
the area of self-care.
Something that has made a huge difference in
my life and in my growth is quiet
contemplation.
Some may call it meditation, some may call
it silent prayer time.
That's okay, because those are all part of
it, too.
In fact, I'm going to mention a couple
of other quiet activities for your consideration, which
are a writing journal and a reading journal.
The difficulty I have with any quiet time
alone is that my mind tends to wander,
going all over the place.
Some of my friends have recommended journaling.
I tried that, and it seemed like I
kept getting stuck, and I didn't know where
to start.
Then someone suggested journaling through a template.
The idea behind the template is to ask
somewhat specific questions, and the answers to those
questions help focus the writing.
Much of this writing spurs other thoughts, which
I also write about.
This approach has helped me get unstuck.
Let me take a break a second and
clarify my usage of the word write.
I say write, but I really mean type
on a computer keyboard.
My handwriting is horrible, and it seems to
slow me down.
I get frustrated that I can't get my
thoughts out quickly enough.
If handwriting works for you, then go with
what works.
I'm basically typing into a word processing file.
At the beginning of each calendar year, I
start off with a new one-page document.
I have about 10 sections, each a question
or a prompt, and each with a space
to type out my thoughts.
I copy and paste this page each day.
I make an entry, then add in a
date at the top section.
The nice thing about this format is you
get to choose and change, whenever needed, your
own questions and topics.
Currently, I ask myself what I'm reading, listening
to, and learning from.
What is something I was wrong about and
now have changed my mind?
What am I praying about?
What are three things for which I am
grateful?
What currently has me frustrated?
What am I doing outside of the ordinary?
What am I doing that is part of
my routine?
What am I learning?
Note the difference to the earlier question, what
am I learning from?
What's new in my life, people, places, experiences?
What is something that I'm happy about?
What is something that I'm sad about?
Something I'm hopeful for?
Finally, I always have a section at the
end called free space, which allows me to
write anything that happens to come to mind.
Rarely will I answer all of the questions.
Rarely will I skip over the free space
area.
Writing in this journal has caused me to
pay closer attention to what I read and
listen to.
One of the job benefits that I have
is access to an online digital library where
I can check out books with the Libby
app, including and especially audio books.
Most books are within 10 hours, and when
I have a 10 to 30 minute drive
to work each way, I make myself, and
if I exercise in the morning, that's another
20 or 30 minutes of listening I get
to each day.
So most of the time I get to
do one book per week.
I especially enjoy the audio books that are
read by the author.
The writing journal encourages me to take note
of the highlight points from the book that
I want to remember.
Often I find an audio book so intriguing,
I'll borrow or purchase the e-book so
that I can read more slowly, intently, and
making highlights and notes on which I'm reading.
Now that I'm reading and listening more, I
found it helpful to have a reading journal,
noting that when I started and finished books,
and I have a list of what I
have read, to be read, and then what
I have to be re-read after having
listened.
Another helpful thing I've started doing is while
I'm reading one book, I'll take note of
what the author citing a reference to another
book.
Some books come up very frequently, such as
Bill Bishop's The Big Sort.
Some of these reference books get added into
my to be read list.
So while I'm mentioning titles, let me suggest
a recent favorite.
That is, I Never Thought of It That
Way, How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in
Dangerously Divided Times by Monica Guzman.
Monica Guzman is a Biden-Harris voting daughter,
journalist, born to Trump-voting immigrant parents.
Perhaps a contrast some of you can appreciate
firsthand, living in Central Appalachia.
So don't limit yourself just to books either.
There are some very good podcasts out there.
I'm still discovering many.
If you have some that you recommend, please
send them my way.
Some of my favorites are Ted Radio Hour,
Hidden Brain Radio Lab, The Road to Now,
Learning How to See, Scott Galloway, and Jim
Wallace.
I've encountered a few limited series, specialty topic
type podcasts, one being Dolly Parton's America, another
being Agent of Betrayal, The Double Life of
Robert Hansen, and then most recently, John Quincy
Adams, our nation's most influential ex-president.
Lastly, I'll recommend two podcasts from people I
know through ASP, Spiritual Not Religious from Shawn
Winburn, and Infinitely Precious and Unconditionally Loved by
James Henry.
So if you think you might find it
helpful, keep a journal of books, add your
podcast to them, keep a list of books
that you've read and haven't read.
And if you would, please share them with
me.
I'm interested in reading what others of my
friends are also reading.
I would love to hear about what you're
listening to.
Please email me at butch.barton@gmail.com
In closing, thank you for the work that
you're doing in Central Appalachia with ASP this
summer.
I am so grateful for you and others
like you.
Because of this, I want to see others,
and especially yourself, taking good care of you.